Drawing for the Absolute Beginner by Carole Massey

This thorough but easy-to-follow guide will take you from basic shapes to complex compositions. The emphasis throughout is on practical work and you'll be learning by doing. The initial exercises are quickly disposed of and, once you've mastered basic shapes you'll be working on still lifes, landscapes, buildings, flowers, trees and even people.

Along the way, Carole explains and, above all demonstrates, composition, perspective, positioning and negative shapes as well as the many techniques of mark-making. She'll show you how to create shading, handle shadows and ways of working with traditional as well as water-soluble pencils, brush pens and charcoal. The heart of the book is a series of 16 pre-printed outlines that form the basis of the main series of demonstrations.

These contain only the basic shapes, leaving you to work on the details - shading, hatching, backgrounds and colour. You can work on each one again and again, creating different approaches as your skills develop. This is a perfectly-judged introduction to an important medium.

• Search Press
• Paperback
• 128 pages
• Black & White throughout